Lerwick's Graveyard
About half an hour’s walk beyond Lerwick’s walls lies a vast, ancient graveyard. It has been the site of numerous undead and other hauntings in Lerwick’s time and it is the final resting place for more than one dead adventurer. Its origins are a mystery. On a cursory glance it appears to be quite a normal graveyard, if a haunted one, but on closer inspection an inquisitive soul may come up with some very peculiar findings. First, the architecture does not match anything seen in the whole wide area of the Savage Frontier that Lerwick is but a tiny part of. Second, the graves appear far older and far more numerous than what should be possible given Lerwick’s relatively short history and size. Third, the area of the graveyard today is not what it was years ago. The oldest surviving residents of Lerwick who remained here from around the village’s founding, are adamant when asked that they remember the graveyard being significantly smaller than it actually seems to be. One could perhaps write this off as bad memory, if it weren’t for the creeping realization in the back of one’s mind that such a claim may not really be all that far off... The graveyard, despite its proximity to Lerwick, is an area ripe for adventures with a dark and spooky atmosphere and although there was never a sight of any powerful undead in the graveyard, some adventurers were able to find gateways to other realms which contained more powerful and intelligent undead. The graveyard itself does not contain organizations of any kind and is watched by the gravekeeper. This means that there’s never any unnoticed secret developments within the graveyard. Some have tried to stop the haunting via the use of a Hallow spell, but it never worked. Something about the area seems to make such spells fail, falter or fade over time. The Lerwick Graveyard is the result of what scholars of the multiverse call Major Planar Bleed. Here, the border between the Material Plane and the Shadowfell is thin, and under a constant high amount of stress. One can only guess at the original cause of this: perhaps it simply is a planar anomaly without a clear cause, or perhaps this was the site of an act of great evil, or something along those lines. The effects, however, are apparent nonetheless. Portals to and from the Shadowfell form easily here, and certain traits, creatures, and even whole structures from the Shadowfell bleed over into this place on the Material Plane. This is how the strange, otherworldly and ancient architecture of the graveyard came to be. They were transplanted here from Darkendle: Lerwick’s dark reflection in the Shadowfell. This is not a fast process. It has slowly developed over many years, and while people have noticed the changes over time, nobody in Lerwick is fully aware of what the situation really is. This ‘bleeding’ is the cause of the haunting in the graveyard. The many (un)dead spirits traveling through the Shadowfell often end up here, sometimes by choice and sometimes by accident. The gateway is as a magnet to them, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by the undead lords of Darkendle. Darkendle: The Shadow of Lerwick In the Shadowfell, in the area around the planar bleed lies the town of Darkendle in much the same place as Lerwick is on the material plane. Darkendle was formed around the same time as the village of Lerwick was founded, but it has never met a disaster as Lerwick has. Just like Lerwick has grown fast in recent months, so too has Darkendle. However, it has one advantage over Lerwick that has enabled it to grow even greater than its Prime counterpart: an army of undead workers that never tire, commanded by their undead lords. Much like Lerwick has become a hub for adventurers, Darkendle has attracted all manner of intelligent undead. They have formed a vile allegiance of sorts, under the ideal that together they will be able to dominate their realm far more effectively than they could alone. The variety of evil creatures gathered here could be seen as astounding by most: in an eerily similar manner to the wide variety of races that Lerwick unites under the banner of the Hawthorne Guild. All kinds of monsters with an affinity for necromancy and undeath may be found in Darkendle: vampires, alhoons, aspiring liches, warlocks devoted to patrons associated with death, even perhaps a death knight. They are all frighteningly close to Lerwick, yet fortunately they have little interest in the Material Plane: they are there to dominate the Shadowfell and delve into the secrets of necromancy. Yet sometimes, individuals in this dark group may see value in exploring their options on the Material Plane. On the other hand, Darkendle is a place of monsters who consider themselves civilized, and many who were once mortals themselves. Some are even still alive. The living, therefore, could even find Darkendle welcoming, provided they are of the right sort, and are looking for the kind of evil ends that the town’s inhabitants may be able to provide... for the right price, of course.Rexen, Greenjuice, 2018, [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uwqx_K-NlGIiIdFCSwal1_jP2DTrLMrw/view The Lerwick Graveyeard, ] Category:Locations